BEARS vs. WHALE: The Bears begin a crucial set of three road games in three nights, beginning tonight in Hartford with a matchup against the Connecticut Whale. The teams meet for the fourth and final time in the regular season. Connecticut is the top AHL developmental affiliate of the New York Rangers.

ALL-TIME: Tonight’s game will be the 36th in regular-season history. The BEARS have an all-time record of 16-17-2 (W – L/OTL – T/SOL) against the Whale, which includes the hosts’ 1997-2010 tenure as the Hartford Wolf Pack.

THE LAST TIMES: Hershey and Connecticut last met in a weekend set of games at GIANT Center on January 12 and 13. It took a shootout for the Bears to claim a 4-3 win in the first meeting, with Stanislav Galiev ringing up the shootout winner in the fourth round against Whale netminder Jason Missiaen. Garrett Mitchell and Jon Kalinski each registered one goal and one assist, while former Bears center Zach Hamill’s goal with 5:16 left to play squared the game at 3-3, earning Hershey the opportunity at two points. Philipp Grubauer, making his first start since being recalled from the Reading Royals, made 32 saves through the first 65 minutes of play and then four of five in the shootout to pick up the win. Kyle Jean, Kelsey Tessier and former Whale forward Chad Kolarik scored in regulation while Kolarik was the only shooter to solve Grubauer in the shootout. In the Sunday rematch, it was all Hershey as the Bears exploded for four first-period goals and then cruised to a 5-0 victory. Barry Almeida, Tomas Kundratek, Jon DiSalvatore and current Washington Capitals defenseman Tom Poti all scored against goaltender Cam Talbot in the opening 20 minutes. Talbot would settle down and stop13 of the final 14 shots he faced, allowing a third-period goal to Mitchell. Dany Sabourin started the game and made four saves on four first-period shots. Sabourin left the game with a minor injury and Grubauer came on in relief, stopping all 23 shots sent his way. The two netminders combined for the first team shutout in modern-day Bears history.

2012-13 SEASON SERIES (2-1-0-0):

Fri. October 26, 2012

@Connecticut

XL Center

L 1-3

Sat. January 12, 2013

CONNECTICUT

GIANT Center

SOW 4-3

Sun January 13, 2013

CONNECTICUT

GIANT Center

W 5-0

Fri. March 22, 2013

@Connecticut

XL Center

RECENT RECAPS: Badly in need of points last weekend to help place the team in a more comfortable spot inside the Eastern Conference playoff picture, the Bears scored just one goal on Saturday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers – but it was enough to take the game in overtime by a 1-0 score. Philipp Grubauer’s second shutout of the season featured 27 saves, while Garrett Mitchell’s 12th goal of the season came with 2:11 left in the extra session. On Sunday, against the Adirondack Phantoms, Grubauer continued his weekend mastery and did not allow a goal until Marcel Noebels struck at 4:26 of the third period. By that point, however, the Bears stormed out to a 4-0 lead on goals by Peter LeBlanc, Ryan Potulny, Jeff Taffe and Casey Wellman. Taffe went on to add another goal and assist on two others to post his third four-point game of the season, helping the team to a 5-2 victory and a sweep of the two weekend games. Wellman (1-1-2), Jon DiSalvatore (0-2-2) and Dmitry Orlov (0-2-2) all recorded multiple-point games for Hershey.

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS (as of March 22):

POS

TEAM

GP

W

L

OTL

SOL

PTS

WIN%

GF

GA

1.

Syracuse

63

38

17

3

5

84

.667

215

168

2.

Binghamton

62

37

19

1

5

80

.645

186

154

3.

W-B/Scranton

64

34

27

2

1

71

.555

150

149

4.

HERSHEY

62

30

24

3

5

68

.548

161

155

5.

Norfolk

63

30

28

4

1

65

.516

156

173

TAFFE’S THREE FOR FOUR: C Jeff Taffe registered his third four-point game of the season in Sunday’s win over Adirondack. He enters the weekend tied for second in the AHL in assists (40) and tied for second in the overall scoring race (18-40-58).

DAS GOALTENDER: G Philipp Grubauer strung together 104:26 of shutout goaltending last weekend before allowing Marcel Noebels’ goal in the third period on Sunday. Grubauer finished the weekend with 63 saves on 65 shots (.969 save percentage) in picking up his ninth and tenth wins of the season. He improved his March numbers to 4-1-0, with a goals-against average of 1.49 and save percentage of .949.

A POSITIVE ADDITION: D Chay Genoway, acquired in a March 14 trade, played his first two games with the Bears last weekend and although he didn’t find the score sheet, finished with a cumulative plus-three rating. He currently leads the Bears in plus-minus with a plus-14.

KANE NEARING ANOTHER MIILESTONE: Captain Boyd Kane is poised to become the second Hershey player this season to reach 500 career AHL points. Jon DiSalvatore accomplished the feat on November 12. Kane earned an assist in Sunday’s win over Adirondack, pushing his career total to 498 (212-286-498). The total comes in 924 career AHL games played, a number that ranks 13th in league history. Kane also ranks 31st in all-time games played in a Hershey sweater (351).

HE’S PLAYING WELL: C Casey Wellman added one goal and one assist in Sunday’s win over Adirondack, giving the Brentwood, CA native 17 points (6-11-17) in 19 games since joining the Bears on January 31.

KINGS OF TIGHT GAMES: The Bears’ 1-0 overtime victory on Saturday over Bridgeport was the first victory of the season for Hershey when scoring only one goal. It also completed the team’s 35th one-goal game of the season, a number which ranks second only to the Chicago Wolves. The Bears have picked up points in 23 of the 35 games (15-12-3-5).

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